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Heller 1700 centary ship of the line


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Hi all well I've had all sorts of trouble getting the other hull side for this, but, it's amazing the effect threatening to sue, not just for the cost of the kit but also compensation can have. Special delivery today the hull half arrived(no letter of apology or even a note just the box with the hull in it)

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Hi all well now the hull half is here I'm like a cat with 2 tails, so my first job to remove the moulded plimsole line (I'm raising it a bit to improve the look) (seen it done elsewhere (davidk's build) and it looks much better)

 

I must say I think it's worked really well, you cant tell it was there at all

 

 

couple of strengthening strips in the bottom

 

She is huge.

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Nice start on the ship of the line.  Is this the Soleil Royal that was destroyed in June 1692 by fireships?  Are there really 104 cannon on the model, or are the cannon on the lower gundeck not fully modeled?

Edited by Jim B
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That is the very ship ( I didn't name it, as there are so many flaws with this kit I don't have the skills or the knowledge to correct, but, it is a good likeness of a generic french ship of the line) that said it is an exquisite kit(yes all the guns are moulded ) it is a kit of over 2300 pieces, they recon on average its a 2 year build (we'll see about that) 

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Hi all, I was asked by a few people how I did this wood effect so thought maybe some of you would be interested.
First of all I apologise my the first pics of the procedure are missing as the pics on my phone we're corrupted for some reason, it dosn't really matter  as the process it the same throughout I will explain as we go.
First here is the huge list of things required
this is where my phone let me down I have no pics if this part as they were corrupted(sorry) 
the pastels wont stick to plastic so you have to use matt paint (I've no idea if this will work with acrylics as I use enamels but I think it would)
I picked the lightest colour of the wood I'm trying to replicate for the base colour (in this case Humbrol m 63)
paint the wood with a thin coat in the direction of the grain if it looks patchy that is good (helps with the effect)as long as it all has some paint on it (look at the pictures of the hull you can see its very patchy)
once that is dry take the darkest wood colour pastel you are using and lightly drag it over the grain in a random manner not everywhere so it all looks the same , then with the brush, again in the direction of the grain brush it in
 
 
then with the highlight colour (we have pictures of the rest of the process from now on) do exactly the same
 
 
again brush in the direction of the grain
 
 
 
next get some black pastel and dab on details (anywhere that may get stained from water or nooks an crannys where swilling the deck wouldn't get plus a few random areas
 
 
now brush across the gain (only very lightly and only a couple of passes)
 
 
 
now brush with the grain as much as you like till you get the desired effect
 
 
 
now comes the important bit (DO NOT VARNISH THIS YET) the varnish stays wet too long and the pastels merge and you just end up with brown blotches. spray with your missus hair spray at a distance of at least 12 inches ( you don't want it to look wet when that is dry then you can spray your varnish.
 
 
 
 
 
Just to show the versitility of this here is some wood from my Mefistofeles which I wanted a mahogany effect (its 1/12 so the wood grain effect is much couser)
 
red base coat
 
 
first pastel colour
 
 
 the genius of this method is if you make a mistake or don't like the effect (untill you varnish it) wash it under the tap dry with a cloth and your missus hair dryer, ten mins and you're ready to go again, you tell me any other method that's that easy to redo.
Hope this is of some help to some one
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Ah, ken, but Soleil-Royal would have to catch her first! :)

What I find interesting, from an engineer's point of view, is the technological changes in hull design between these two ships.  The Soleil-Royal (1670) with her round bow & high transom, and the Thermopylae (1868) with her long, lean lines; and just how much changed in 198 years.  Granted these two ships were designed for different purposes: one was designed to stand in the line of battle & slug it out with other ships-of-the-line; while the other was designed purely for speedy delivery of expensive cargos.

I read once that Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) said that "ships should go in like a Cod & out like a Herring", which influenced ship design for centuries.  I'm sure this design would be fine if you're building a submarine; but nut so good for a surface ship.  The blunt bow (sometimes called an apple bow) causes tremendous drag, and you have to expend much of the sail's energy just forcing the ship through the water.  See?  This stuff is fascinating.

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Hi all here is the next update, 12 of the lower deck cannons, not done much detail work on the carriages as they wont be seen, and done some of the deck furniture, next job to drill the holes out for the gun door ropes( that is going to take some time 104 guns X 2 208 holes then I have to try and think of a way to make the rings for the gun port doors for the ropes to go through.

as you say Jim fascinating, did you know the rear of ships like Thermopylae were designed to break waves to stop swamping because they sit so low in the water compared to the Soliel, apparently the shape breaks the base of the wave making it collapse.

 

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Thats peanuts, what I'm not looking forward to is the actual rigging.

soleil_royal-27253.jpg

now is scary, and that is simplified. 

You think recreating all that rigging in scale is tough?

Imagine being a sailor on that ship and having to keep all that rigging in good working order! :P

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